Illinois COVID-19 Reopening and What I Think It Means for Combat Sports

 Disclaimer: What follows is not medical advice. The best way to avoid COVID-19 is NOT to train until herd immunity has been established or a vaccine discovered. This is a theoretical discussion and nothing more. Proceed at your own risk.

Let's start by being absolutely clear: we do not and will not have a treatment for COVID-19 in the foreseeable future. If you or your loved one gets a bad case of this the best modern medicine can do is support your body while we hope you recover. Second, a vaccine remains over a year away. Finally, we are weeks to months away from herd immunity, if we can even develop that with a virus that has rapidly mutated into several strains. If you want to minimize risk to yourself, your loved ones, your friends, and coworkers the only things that will do that are:

1. Clean: Hand washing or sanitizing for at least 20 seconds before and after touching yourself, another human, or an object. If your academy were to open this would basically mean at the beginning of practice, before each round, after each round, and before leaving class. It also means showering thoroughly before and after practice. It means thoroughly wiping down each piece of nonlaunderable equipment with bleach wipes. So that’s a lot of sanitizer and bleach solution.
2. Cover: Wearing a mask that decreases the spread of droplets. Not all masks are created equal so it needs to be a mask that blocks viral droplet particles. All masks are not created equal and masks are designed to protect others from you not you from them. We do not know if masks remain effective as we sweat and get them wet.  Note that exercise training masks and running masks contain filters that viral droplets go right through. They allegedly are rated for pollution and bacteria much larger than the diameter of a droplet. They look cool but they won’t do much other than provide an illusion of safety.
3. Clear: Social distancing or being at least 6 feet away from other people. Thus the ultimate way to stay safe is to train by yourself. This is a great way to get stronger, more flexible, and better cardio. But it is not going to improve your technique or your timing. If your academy does open up strongly consider a single dedicated training partner and only training in classes of less than 10 people. If you are or live with some at high risk, don't train.

You are likely safer in an area with a greater volume of distribution, e.g. outside, than in a small volume of distribution, e.g. in the academy or gym.

The Illinois Reopening Plan is a regionalized 5 phase plan that can move us as a community closer to normal if public health indicators are favorable or reassert more restrictions if they are not. The plan uses cases, testing availability, and hospital resources (e.g. beds and ventilators) in predefined geographic areas. In the central part of the state we appear to be in Phase 2 with a good chance of moving to Phase 3 in June 2020. We don't need to rely on laypeople determining risk, the phases will shift based on public health data.

There is, of course, no specific instructions for combat sports in my state’s plan, the nearest things that we might be compared to are health clubs. This is a specious comparison, in health clubs, you can continue to social distance more than 6 feet, wear masks, and sanitize your hands between exercises while still getting a fulfilling workout. Combat sports like boxing, wrestling, muay thai, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and mixed-martial arts however all involve core doctrines that include significant physical interaction and contact. USA Wrestling has released its Return to the Mat Guidelines, a phased approach that like the Illinois Reopening Plan avoids or minimizes organized, group, physical contact for the duration of time before herd immunity or wide-spread vaccine deployment. The Illinois Reopening Plan recommends masks and social distancing until the last phase. In phase 3 groups of up to 10 people can gather and in phase 4 up to 50 people with appropriate behavioral alterations. One-on-one personal training and small group classes may begin in phase 3.      

Reopening gyms and academies like they were before the pandemic is unrealistic before we have a vaccine or herd immunity. That said, these are small businesses that will not get sufficient support from the state or federal government. It is up to the martial arts as a community to save our gyms and schools. This may mean paying for classes at the same or reduced rate as instruction goes more virtual and classes are limited in both contact and population density. If we lose the societal checks on this novel coronavirus too early, academies and clubs will be the hot spots of their communities, the source of deaths for the old and the medically compromised. If we maximize social distancing with dedicated training partners, frequent hand sanitization, and mask adherence, we mitigate this risk. This means that practice will be a lot more hands-off and more often without interactions that we felt were the norm for our training. For example, as detailed in other plans starting with solo training and then adding partner drills at range (e.g. long-range stick or pad work) and forgoing body to body contact, e.g. knee play, wrestling or grappling until much later than anyone wants. It also means getting frequent testing, likely every two weeks as they become increasingly available and free. It means symptom checklists before each practice, likely completed on-line at a distance, and temperature checks at the door. It means a thorough cleaning of the gym and equipment before and after each session.

I do not believe that we are prevented from rolling, sparring, and other close-quarters work for the duration of the pandemic. However this will likely mean forming “pods” or small groups not including immediate family. In other words, it’s about finding one “monogamous" training partner that you will train with for the duration, either privately or in group settings. There is a two to three week “cooling off” period before switching partners to limit spread. Your risk is likely decreased if you only train with that person in a private setting, but with symptom checklists, strict hygiene protocols, temperature checks, frequent testing, and mask use. Masks are likely a custom made cloth mask that can withstand the rigors of training. Based on the Illinois plan I would not consider this sort of training until Phase 3 and it is likely more prudent to wait until Phase 4. Best case for Central Illinois that would be July. Any negative change in phase would place an immediate moratorium on training.

However, if this pod model means you quit your academy then we are destroying the art by eliminating the small businesses that are martial arts studios. We must balance our personal training needs by considering using pods while simultaneously supporting our academies and clubs. One way of doing this would be to run social distancing academy practices in parallel with pod classes virtually. Thus people who had access to private training spaces could work with their designated partner more closely without significantly increasing risk to others. Simultaneously those without a private training space could workout in a different fashion with alternate but still likely minimal risk. If things improve we could work gradually closer to how things used to be while realizing that they will never return to that baseline.

Stay safe.

Kimura Trap Transition To Rear Mount

These are some notes on some work in progress. Your opponent is in four points and you are controlling the back from the side. Reach across and obtain a kimura trap on the far arm grabbing their wrist with your lateral hand and using your medial hand to underhook the forearm and grip your wrist, Briskly pull up making lifting their chest and twisting their torso.

If they do not defend their near hip, place your near hook and pull them to rear mount by placing your free hook in the space created by your kimura trap as you pull them laterally,

If they do defend their near hip by closing space and compressing this area, pull them laterally toward you by your kimura trap and place the near hook and then the far hook.

Once you have the rear mount you can either transition to straight arm bar or try to do a reverse Americana by bracing your elbow against the back of their head and pulling their wrist posteriorly.

You can also hook their near arm with your leg and you can roll your hip over their head as you pull them to crucifix

Fall 2017 Megaton Dias Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar

Strategy, Technique, and Mechanics

You need to apply strategy to win, taking the techniques you know to create reaction and opportunities to attack. You need one good takedown, one good guard pass, one good sweep, and one good submission. Thus we can prune techniques from our game because they are not optimally effective for our style or body type, but we cannot prune them from our mind because we must fully understand the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Learning technique is easy, application and strategy taking time and sweat. There is no right or wrong, there are better and worse options.

Understand the mechanics of each movement and how it teaches you something in the greater context of jiu-jitsu. Understand what principle         does the mechanic embody.

Conditioning

You will get into better shape with jiu-jitsu, but you cannot excel at jiu-jitsu unless you supplement your training with conditioning. 

Escape From the Rear Mount

“Dab"

On the side you wish to slide to your back on, place the ipsilateral forearm on your forehead with your ear to your biceps. Your other arm comes across with the hand protecting the “negative air way”. This is a defensive posture to prevent grips around your neck.

Seatbelt

If they have the seatbelt, grab the top forearm with your ipsilateral hand and push down with the underhook side arm. You are going to have to go away from the overhook arm of the seatbelt to escape.

Collar Control

If they have collar control, grab the forearm of with your ipsilateral hand. You will have to go in the direction that their collar grip hand is pointing.

First, bridge up and move superiorly toward their head, this removes leverage for the choke. Next move your back to the floor on the appropriate side, either the one you selected with good defensive posture or the one your opponent has selected for you by their grips. Move your back to the floor, before they attempt to mount, shove their superior leg between yours  and as they attempt to get on top, slide away to open guard.

Worm Guard Sweep

Control the distal end of their gi skirt, place your ipsilateral foot in their hip, wrap the skirt under your leg and pass it to your opposite hand. Regrip with the ipsilateral hand. They must either stand or post up on the opposite leg to set-up the rest of the worm guard, you may have to wrestle them to create reaction. Now pass the gi skirt behind the other leg, grab it with your opposite hand then regrab with your ipsilateral hand but now palm up. Bring your free leg behind the posteriorly wrapped leg and place the foot below your hip post post, anterior to their other leg. Control their near arm and pull them to their back as you roll on top of their legs, pinning them together. From here, either “hike” their leg through for the mount or slide your knee nearest their far hip to the floor, then pivot your other leg free to the side mount.

Worm Guard Choke

If you attempt the worm guard and they stay down, dropping their head to create pressure, pass the gi skirt under their neck and pass it to the opposite hand, your ipsilateral hand will regrab it with the arm behind the neck for the choke. The wrapped leg can come toward you, with the knee near the ear. The other hook can go wide or drop between the legs to bait your opponent to create more forward pressure.

Worm Guard Armbar

You have set up the worm guard but because they are in a tight kneeling position you cannot thread the leg for the sweep. Move laterally to your opponent and place the free foot across their distal shin. Pull anteriorly to allow your wrapped leg to slide above their knee and across their abdomen. If they fall forward, rotate 180° to a prone position to armbar. If they posture pull them backward into the standard cross body armbar.

Two-on-one Guard Sweep

You have cross grip control of the gi sleeve and ipsilateral grip control at the elbow. Your elbow grip side foot is in their hip. Grip their opposite heel with the elbow grip hand. Now your free leg goes behind their same side knee and you extend your post at the hip, sweeping them to their back and the ground.

Two-on-one Omoplata

Use your elbow grip to pull anteriorly and up while the wrist grip pushed inferiorly and back, creating a window for you to pivot to the omoplata. Look for this when they a posturing more.

Two-on-one Triangle

Place your free foot in their cubital fossa, if they are bringing their head down/lowering their weight, pull their arm across as you move your foot in their elbow joint into the triangle.

Spider Guard Armbar

You have one foot in their hip with same side collar control and the opposite foot in the cubital fossa with ipsilateral sleeve control. If they have their hand on your pant leg you will have to free this grip, if they have control of your collar then cup their elbow and pull gently as you swing the leg over the head and squeeze with the opposite knee for the armbar.

Spider Guard Triangle

 Use the same palm up guidance of their extended elbow to pull the forward as the elbow control side leg snakes behind the head for the triangle.

Baseball Slide Pass

When passing the guard look for one leg inside and one leg outside, now reach cross collar with the inside arm and drop your forearm laterally across your opponent’s neck as you slide your inside knee over and laterally to their thigh. Grab their gi sleeve on this side.

Baseball Slide Counter Knee Bump

If they are doing the knee slide, pinch their leg with yours and turn on your side, counter grab the gi sleeve with your same hand. Grab their belt with your top hand, using this hand and your top knee bump them forward to come to your knees.

Baseball Slide Counter Roll

Use your bottom leg to extend and pull you underneath your opponent in three “slides”. Place your palm on the lateral service of their far knee. Bridge and roll them to the far side. Bring your hook on the side closes to your opponent under his leg and lift, allowing your to insert your far hand and go to side mount.

Leg Drag

Cross grip their gi pant leg and grab under the heel with your ipsilateral hand. Hip bump forward and then pull your hip back, pull the leg to the far side, rotating your gi pant grip on the far side of their leg, lean forward placing their knee in your axilla. Now free this hand and grab their far collar, and lean toward this side bringing your knee between their legs and to the mat. Secure your position and walk around to the side mount.

Second Degree Faixa Preta

Today I was promoted to second degree black belt. I don’t believe I’m that good of a black belt and I’ve done martial arts for so long that I don’t put much stock in promotions, stripes and belts anymore. To me you’re only as good as what you can back-up with your skills and only as talented as what you can transmit to others about doing the art. That being said, I’m tickled that my instructor and his instructor think enough of my evolving jiu-jitsu to promote me.

Escaping the Mount

First, use an upa to move their weight forward. Then push their knee and shrimp your leg free, overhook with this leg in half-guard. Switch to your opposite hip and frame the neck and far biceps. Escape to the guard.

If you cannot move their knee, shrimp way from their leg to create space to bring your knee inside. Switch hips and frame to escape your other leg into hooks inside guard.

If they are defending you pushing their knee, tilt on your hip and bring your leg over to their opposite leg, dragging their foot between your legs. Now push to establish half-guard and then shrimp to guard.

If they grapevine your leg, straighten one rapidly then shrimp out. Alternatively you can push their hook off with your opposite foot. If they cross their ankles, step on them and then shrimp.

Hashtag something really tough...GRRRR

Warm-up combinations:

• Jab-cross-double lead kick
• Jab-cross-lead kick-rear kick
• Jab-cross-rear kick-lead kick
• Jab-cross-double rear kick

Pummeling set-ups

• Stop the biceps of the overhook, arm wrench the underhook, throw an elbow to their head, catch the neck knee, guillotine
• Knee, lift their leg, penetrate step and ipsilateral inside sweep, groin shot
• Catch wrist (or redirect with pummeling hand) and pass to arm drag, step to the back while passing their arm further to the a “seatbelt” (contralateral wrist control from behind, ipsilateral control at the elbow). Step between their legs with your leg on the wrist control side and drop to your knee, dragging your opponent laterally to the mat.
• Block their overhook, drive up with your underhook, step off 45°, lower your level and run them down with the double leg

Guard work against the posturing opponent

• Your opponent postures with one hand wrapping your lapels at your solar plexus, you can break their grip by pulling your gi laterally like your flashing your opponent.
• You can cross collar over their grip and then gi drag when they try to stand.
• You can get a cross collar over their grip, make it deeper by propping on your free elbow, then sit back pulling them forward. Cross grip their posture arm sleeve. Prepare for the arm bar by placing the foot in the hip, if they lean forward to close the line, put your knee over their shoulder and triangle. Push way with your legs to set-up the armor.

$h!t I wish I knew 10 years ago

Closed guard, cross collar and ipsilateral sleeve grip. Open and place the knee shields on the inside. Use the shin on the side you control to break the grip. Pull as you extend this leg so that the knee goes posterior to their shoulder. Place your foot in their hip to abduct and rotate their arm. Spin for the Oma plata by using your opposite foot in their hip and kicking your Oma plata leg to the mat.

If they attempt to feed your foot on their free side between their legs, bring your knee superiorly to you and place the spider guard hook in their cubital fossa. Use this to set-up your Oma plata.

If they stand, get your foot in their hip and your other foot in their cubital fossa. Same collar and sleeve control. Angle your body 45 degrees to the control side. You can ankle pick or Oma plata.

Sticks and Arm Drags May Break My Bones

Double Stick

1. Right forehand-backhand, left forehand-backhand, right forehand-low backhand-forehand, left forehand-low backhand-forehand
2. Right forehand-backhand, left forehand-backhand, right forehand-low backhand-forehand, left forehand-low backhand-forehand, right over under post-right forehand-left backhand-right back hand, left over under post-left forehand-right backhand-left backhand

Gi Arm Drag

1. Cross collar grip, place freehand on mat, use your ipsilateral leg to move hips offline and pull opponent to the mat. Seatbelt grip and pull them to the rear mount.
2. Your opponent grabs your pant leg ipsilateral to your cross collar grip. Place your palm on their wrist and underhook grip their biceps with the opposite (former collar grip hand), while shifting offline, pull their arm.
3. Again your opponent grabs the pant legipsilateral to your cross collar grip. Use your ipsilateral hand to grab the superior line of the triceps and pull both at the collar and at the arm.

If your opponents arm doesn’t drag past you but stays across your body, frame and go for oma plata.

Airplane

From the cross collar and sleeve grip, place your feet in their hips, push back for them to pressure forward. Lift your opponent in the air at the hips with your feet.

1. Lift them over the same side shoulder you have sleeve and wrist control. Roll with them to take the mount.
2. Drop the leg that has sleeve control laterally, allowing them to rotate into the armbar position.

Crucifix

When your opponent has turtled up and you are attempting to attack with a clock choke but your opponent is defending the choke hand. Push their hand down and away from their body, hook it with the leg nearest their head. Pull it laterally and pinch it between your thighs. Reattach your choke hand on the far lapel and roll over your opponent across the shoulder. As you land on your back, cinch the choke and pull your non-choke hand to your head.

If your opponent rears up consider sitting backward to pull them into the crucifix position.

If they wrap the leg closer to their rear, make a tight roll forward to catch them in a kimura, control their legs as quickly as possible to prevent them from rolling out. WARNING: GO SLOW, THIS COMES ON FAST!

Andre Galvao Passing the Guard Seminar and Coach Los Faixa Preta Promotion

 

Andre Galvao of ATOS presented a seminar hosted by Impact Zone in Lafayette, IN. Professor Galvao is a top-level competitor yet simultaneously an excellent instructor. Today he presented part of his top game against the open guard and De La Riva guard. One of the key elements of his game is the "leg drag". The leg drag concept is a solution to the problem with clearing the legs and going directly to side mount, your opponent invariably shrimps out and reestablishes guard or half-guard. To remedy this, all the passing we did has a step where your opponents knees are directed away from you and you attempt to control their hips, before going to side mount (or taking the back). In essence you take a step back to get eventually get ahead.

Galvao is similar to other top level competitors in that he does not worry about what his opponent will do, rather he attacks the way he wants pruning the decision tree of responses that he has to deal with. We can all learn that confidence in our game is not arrogance and is necessary to obtain victory.

Open Guard Passing

1. Simple open-guard leg drag pass: Your partner is seated, back off the floor with feet on the floor. Lower your level and place one hand on the ipsilateral hip and the other on their ipsilateral knee. Push the knee laterally to the floor and circle in the same direction as you push their legs away from you, their knees should switch to being pointed away from you. Now “park the car” by circling behind them sliding your knee nearest their legs between them, stay on the balls of your feet. Your abdomen should pin their hip and your near arm comes over trapping their thigh between your triceps and knee, your “far” hand controls the kimono. If they should try to stop you with their top leg use your hip control arm’s elbow to relieve the hook.
2. Take the back from leg drag: As above but as your push their legs away from you they shrimp out, “running away” from you. Step the foot nearest their head, superior to their head and spin to their back. Your ipsilateral arm underhooks their arm and grabbing your opposite hand which comes between their neck and mat, over the shoulder to form a seat belt grip. Stay on the balls of your feet, control their shoulder with your chin.
3. Shin hook pass: As in #1 but this time they attempt to use their bottom leg to hook inside. Step your contralateral foot so that you hook shin-to-shin and push their foot to their butt. Now step your free leg up, with a shin just superior to the hip and pinch your legs around theirs. Post a sit to your butt, in an inverse kesa gatame.
4. Outside-inside toreador pass: Your partner is flat on their back, pushing gently on your thighs with their feet, grab their ankles, one hand outside and one hand inside, hollow yourself slightly and throw them to your hands open side. Step in, placing your shin hook nearest their legs against their thigh.

We then drilled each of these for speed, one side doing repetitions for time, going through all four passing types.

 

De La Riva Guard Passing

The De La Riva guard has three ways to grip your opponents leg (1) cupping the heel, (2) controlling the pant leg, and (3) overhooking the leg and grabbing your own thigh. They increase in the difficulty of freeing your leg. One of the keys of passing the De La Riva was to lift the leg that is controlling your hip and pushing the knee down on the hook side, freeing the medial thigh hook.

1. Shin hook scissor step: Loosen the De La Riva by lifting the straight leg and pushing down on the hook knee. Control the lifted leg and step your free leg back placing a shin hook, their leg is now trapped around your “hooked” leg. Squat to prevent them from sliding up and control both lapels as you slide your trapped leg’s knee laterally and to the floor to free it. Clear the thigh and then move their legs away from you to the leg drag position
2. Check mark pass (heel cup): Push their straight leg down as you pull your opponent to a seated position, rotate them 90° by pulling their leg through yours and pushing them back flat to the mat. Now knee slide over their thigh as you grab their sleeve with the hand contralateral to the knee slide and drop the lapel control arm to their body to block their knee from creating space. Slide your shin distally between their legs to free it. Get hip to hip then shift toward your opponents hip and legs to get to the leg drag position.
3. Shin knee slide (pant leg control): Lift their straight leg and push down on the hook knee, move your hooked leg outside of your elbow, drop the knee laterally to the floor, trapping their grip hand under their leg. Use a window wiper to clear the leg, then retrace your steps to the leg drag position. Option 1: simply let them take half guard, option 2: get head control and long step out, or option 3: if they are pushing step all the way around and take the back.
4. Leg drag (pant leg control): Lift their straight leg and push down on the hook knee, move your hooked leg outside of your elbow and underhook it. Push forward then shift back while passing their legs to the far side, ending in leg drag position.
5. Stack pass (overhook control): Lift their straight leg and push down on the hook knee, get double under control grabbing their pants at the belt line on the straight leg side and your opponent’s triceps on their overhook side. Pull their posterior upward stacking them on their neck and shoulders. Squat as if your were sitting, placing your free leg behind back. Knee slide over their arm, window wiper to clear, as your opposite arm cradles them and brings them to the mat. If they try to post their free hand on their hip to stop this, grab their wrist and pull it behind their back. If their overhook remains high (or you pull it higher), drop to your hip distal from their head and pull them across your body feet to head to the crucifix position.

And then we drilled, starting from open guard until submission for two minutes then switching. This was followed by starting from De La Riva until first point.

 

James Clingerman, Max Burt, Evan Mannweiler, Carlos Soto, Tim Sledd, Andre Galvao, Thabet AT, Mat Stratta, and your humble blogger.

2014 Fall Megaton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar "Don't look at my eyes, look at the technique"

Counter Intuitive De La Riva Guard Pass: Free the grips, grab their ankle on the unhooked side (with either one or both hands) rapidly pop your hips forward. As your hips return to neutral, guide their leg to your opposite side (a lá the “leg drag”), slide the hooked knee to the mat. Bring the elbow on the side medial and then laterally, clearing their top thigh, then underhooking their head. Switch step your free leg across your opponents legs, insert your free hand at their hip to control. Now draw your other leg through to obtain side mount.

50-50 Guard to Straight Ankle Lock: Their distal leg should be next to your flank, overhook their ankle and grab your opposite lapel. The leg on this side is just lateral to theirs, your contralateral foot is tucked under their butt on the same side. Roll laterally, externally rotating their hip, until your are nearly face down. Now extend (don’t arch) your body to submit with the straight ankle lock

Lasso Guard Pass: Take your free hand and adduct their knees, place your shoulder on their lateral thigh, weaving your arm posterior and medial to their top leg, grab their opposite pant’s leg or bottom sleeve. Place your head on the mat next to their torso, pike up, control their lapel with your free hand, and slide your knee medially, over their bottom shin. Clear their legs with this knee. A variation would be to control their ipsilateral sleeve with your free hand, drop laterally to your hip on this side, using your sleeve and leg control from allowing them to come on top. Pull your leg free and take side mount.

Reverse De La Riva Guard Pass: Your opponent has reverse De La Riva, deny them control by grabbing their hook side, ipsilateral, lapel. Transition out to your hip and underhook their head. Free your leg.

Over-Under Guard Pass: Push one of their feet down, enter your opponents guard but they have this hook in. Overhook this leg and grab their distal pant leg, underhook their opposite thigh, keeping their hamstring on your shoulder, control their pant leg just distal to the draw string line. Place your head on this side of their stomach and walk your legs, circling toward their head. You may need to circle back to free their hook or to push it down with your lateral-most leg to step over with your other leg.

Spider Lasso Guard Sweep: Set-up lasso guard and place your other foot in the ipsilateral cubital fossa. You can perform a simple sweep by pulling them toward you and lifting either way, although I found sweeping to the lasso side more easily done.

Worm Guard Defense (before they cross the gi to the opposite side)

• Use our ipsilateral hand to reach behind you and push their leg down, step around this leg and pass it between your legs
• Pull the kimono skirt up, prying it from their grip

Worm Guard Defense (after they cross the gi to the opposite side)

• Spin and go to the mat while grabbing the foot and look for a figure four ankle lock

Oma Plata Lock In: Once you have the oma plata and are sitting up, free the skirt and obtain a good grip, drop your elbow behind there back to tighten the grip, scoot laterally to finish.

Spider Guard to Overhook X-Guard: From spider guard, scoot underneath and bring your hip control leg through their legs. Overhook his ankle on this side with your arm. Bend your knee and thread your foot back to his anterior side, placing your foot in the far inguinal area. Now if your opponent tries to step around this hook, pull him back into place by applying pressure on his arm with the foot in his cubital fossa. Now reestablish this foot behind his popliteal fossa. Pass his sleeve to your overhook hand, control the collar on the same side, Extend your legs and pull laterally, they will fall on their side.

Quarter Guard Knee Bump Sweep: From quarter guard your opponent posts to his free foot. Pass their far skirt to your top hand, giving them a “gi-string”. Your opponent grabs your bottom sleeve. Re-grab his sleeve, bump them with your top knee and come on top.

Half-Guard Half-Somersault Sweep: From Z-guard (shield guard) obtain contralateral sleeve control and ipsilateral grip on their distal pant leg on the side opposite the Z. Bump them toward the gripped leg, if they fall over come on top. If they resist pull their arm across your body, loading them on your knee, now lift them over your head with your legs and roll backwards until you are in the top half-mounted position.

Megaton talked a good deal about his approach to jiu-jitsu:

“I love to compete, I hate to lose” He talked about the importance of competing at least once in your life. He also noted that there is only winning or losing, whether by submission, points, or a single advantage it does not matter, a win is a win, a loss is not. He noted the importance of attending a rules course at least once a year.

“Train like you compete.” If you practice giving up position and points you will do it when you compete. Always grapple with the guy that gives you the most trouble. Become a black belt in a particular position and know how to get there and what happens there.

“For every action, reaction”. In the context of the game we play, we can limit that reaction to options that we have answers for. We should do what we know to do best, and expect reaction and have our own to react with.

“Jiu-jitsu is simple, we make it complicated.” We need common sense and moves that work for us, not an ever expanding lexicon that is ineffective. Do the simplest, biomechanically effective method of getting the result you desire.

Above Garage Door Grappling Mat Storage Rack

As someone who feels that martial arts training is an important part of their life, it is inevitable that some sort of home gym set-up occurs. I had grown tired of the climatological extremes of garage training at our old place so I had not pursued it at our new home. However with available training partners only a few blocks away, I felt that it was a good time to have a midlife training crisis and supplement with some garage rolling.  Unfortunately although my garage is advertised as a two-car garage, it really only feels like a car and a half.  There is very little room for storage, particularly something as bulky and space consuming as mats. The next house we get will have a finished basement.

I did some investigation on the internet and found this interesting article on the Family Handyman. I wanted something like a shelf but the idea of using rollers to assist with storing the mats appealed to me. A friend of mine had some solid (non-folding) mats he was interested in getting rid of, they measure 3’ 6” by 6’ 6” and weigh approximately 50 lbs, so this needed to be a sturdy arrangement. I decided on using three rollers based on six foot 5/8” threaded rods, with 5’ PVC as the roller.

Mounting bracket (upside down) constructed from 14" 2” x 4” with two 5” corner braces bolted on with three 1/4-20 x 2 1/2” machine bolts. SAE 1/4” washers were used on both sides. The hole at the “top” is 5/8” to accommodate the six foot 5/8” threaded rod used in the roller assembly.

The mats I have are 6’ 6”, so I placed the brackets every other ceiling stud thereby spanning approximately 5’ 6”. Originally I tried placing the rollers as near the outer wall as possible, but the garage door would impact the mounting brackets as it turned from vertical to horizontal, so I moved it in one ceiling stud in and had no clearance trouble.  I measured the opposite mounting bracket position with an assembled roller and confirmed that the bracket would be mounted into the ceiling stud with a stud finder.

I used six #14 x 2 1/2” wood screws into the ceiling stud to mount each of my constructed mounting brackets.

Next I made a 5/8” hole in another 2” x 4” and mounted it on the end of the threaded rod to line the mounting bracket furthest from the garage door. Using this “straightedge” and a stud finder I positioned the mounting bracket. Once mounted I measured and trimmed the connecting 2” x 4”. I did the same thing on the opposite side but confirmed my position with a roller assembly before fastening the opposite mounting bracket. I then attached the connecting 2” x 4”s to the threaded rod.

At this point I weight tested the assembly with my own (not inconsiderable) bodyweight. Nothing moved, nothing broke, and nothing sounded like it was going to give.

Using the connecting 2” x 4” and a stud finder I fastened the middle mounting brackets. Then I bored out the 5/8” hole for the threaded rod in the connecting 2” x 4” on both sides. I assembled the inner hardware of one side and the PVC pipe of the roller, and slid it through the inside holes nearest the wall. It was slid far enough to allow the opposite end to clear the mounting bracket on the opposite side and then I slid it into the mounting bracket hole after placing washers and inside nut. I then tapped the rod into place gently with a mallet, adjusting the nuts on both sides to allow equal amounts of the threaded rod to be seen bilaterally projecting.

A roller assembly is a nut, locking washer, flat washer, connecting 2” x 4”, mounting bracket, flat washer, locking washer, nut, 5’ of PVC pipe, nut, locking washer, flat washer, mounting bracket, connecting 2” x 4”, flat washer, locking washer, nut.

All told this project took me between 6-8 hours including hardware shopping time. But I’m a pretty poor excuse for a carpenter.

Empty, finished mat rack with garage door closed

Empty, finished mat rack with garage door open

Loaded mat rack

Physics of Disdain

“I hate losing more than I even wanna win.” — Billy Beane, Moneyball

I am secure in my knowledge that I’m pretty good at jiu-jitsu, but I’m also very aware that I can only get better while being one injury away from never getting on the mats again.  Ultimately my goal is to be able to blow through anyone on the planet and submit them at will. Realistic, no. Inspiring, yes. Recently I’ve been less than happy with my ability to pass the guard (not that I’m thrilled about my ability to play guard) so I’ve been watching the best and thinking about the rest. Part of my conceptual thinking was inspired (stolen) from Jeff Serafin’s Art of Uncomfortable guard passing concepts and the Mendes Brother’s Leg Drag.

Fighting is essentially trying to get ahead and if you are ahead, staying there. In combat sports that has to be done within the rules of game. For example, get grips first, if you’re not first, get a better grip than your opponent.  When I pass, for whatever reason, I am often faced with an open or spider guard.  I’m not light and I’m longed limbed so it is difficult to contain me in a closed guard, passing on the ground while certainly feasible does leave a certain amount of space for opponents to re-capitalize given my length of limb and spaces it provides. This is a long way of saying, I often finding myself standing and trying to pass the open guard.  I’ve been watching how Rodolfo Vieira passes and it has been inspiring, BJJ Scout has an excellent analysis of this:

When I first watched Professor Vieira pass, it seemed to me as if he had nothing but disdain for his opponents guard. It would have been called cocky if it didn’t work.  The key that I noticed, which is true for all top competitors, is that they do what they do not regardless of their opponent but because it prunes the decision tree of possible actions by their opponent.  The open and spider guard work by getting the legs at a 45° angle with the floor, this provides the maximal amount of force against your opponent with your feet having the greatest amount of friction. Vieira destroys this by changing the angle reducing the efficacy of his opponent’s legs and the ability to control the open guard with their feet.  He increases the angle by advancing, contemptuously appearing to walking into the guard. By driving in, dropping and then lifting the hips, your opponents feet are displace upward, they lose contact with your arms or hips.

Obviously I try to get a good grip on their pant legs to help facilitate good posture and re-positioning of their legs as I glacially displace their open guard. Either I grab first, or break their grips to get there. Sometimes simply to slow them down, I step in first and then break the grips, if I’m a step or two behind.  It is important not to hunker over your opponent but to try to lift their hips off the mat as you approach.

My first iteration was the “horse stance” I ended up moving in but with my feet parallel and both within reach of my opponent.  While this was effective it is is limited because they can bump you backward and have a choice of legs to snare.  Remember that you are trying to get them off-balance and defensive, no trying to climb on top of them, you climb on top of someone and you will be swept.  You will notice, as BJJ Scout points out, inserting a knee either inside or outside their knee is a more effective way of breaking them down.  So my second iteration was to try to control the pant leg and drive my knee on the medial side of theirs, bending and abducting their leg laterally.  Do not allow them to hook inside. A third variation is step slightly laterally and pull their leg in the contralateral direction, placing your opposite knee on the lateral side of theirs, bending it medially and adducting it, into a leg drag-esque position.

From the medial knee insertion, you can start to pass by knee slide, by “hiking” their opposite leg through your own, or switching to a leg drag. From the lateral knee insertion you can practically drop into the side mount from there, if they turn back fast enough you can drop into their half-guard and pass from there (after getting your advantage for placing their shoulders on the mat).  You will also notice that Vieira switches directions, so drive for your pass but if it’s not working try passing on the other side by switching to another pass, e.g. “hike” to one side, knee slide to the other.  One thing that I found effective, when I couldn’t hip lift in well enough was to grab both legs and toreador pass, they’re fighting your pressure so much that their legs are easily extend and get stapled to the mat.

Attention to this concept will make you do something else: when you play open guard you will not want them to do this to you, so you will get good grips and stretch them out, making sure their posture is something their mothers would bemoan.

Howe It's Done

Today I sat in on Chris Howe’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class and had the pleasure of seeing him teach.  Chris and I share the same Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor, Jack McVicker, and have trained together in the past.  It is fascinating to see the details that Chris explains, because while much of the source is the same, we have different contexts and insight into the same technique.  Although we have trained with different people and gone to different seminars it was illuminating to have someone teach familiar technique with a different viewpoint.  Just a reminder to take advantage of the knowledge that might be sitting right next to you.

Dive Pass

We started with the Dive Pass, control both pant legs just distal to the knee, thumbs toward you.  Push the leg laterally to the mat, then dive the ipsilateral shoulder to their abdomen, head crosses the midline.  Underhook the unpinned leg and regrip the pinned leg on the lateral side of the pants.  Now, use a “windshield wiper” to free your leg, that is, trap their leg with your lateral leg to allow the medial leg to overhook.  You can use your outside knee laterally, to push their leg medially to facilitate an easier pass.

Rather than passing you can also knee bar, by transitioning back in-line with your opponent while squeezing your knees, this should straighten their leg with it the knee pointed straight up.  Your pubic ramus should be just proximal to their knee, loosely triangle their leg and do a leg curl.

North-South Attacks

To set-up the north-south attacks from side mount, reach the arm nearer their head over your partner’s head, your arm tucked just under their lateral arm, your hand over their kidney (I like to grab the kimono here) and tuck your elbow to their head.  Your other hand controls the near hip, now rotate to north-south position to force their arm in their hip to “pop out”.  Underhook this and grab their trapezius/kimono sleeve.

Paper cutter choke

Transition back to the side mount.  Using the arm over your partner’s head, pull your elbow to your hip, catch the far lapel and drop your forearm across their neck, drop the elbow under their chin, and flare the elbow slightly, roll your weight by dropping the hip nearest the head to the mat.  If they try to turn into you pull them flat with your triceps grip arm.  This arm will also cause counter tension as you choke

Reverse, arm-in, guillotine

Transition back to the side mount.  Place your knee next to their ear and your head overhook elbow near the contralateral ear.  Pull your elbow to your hip, lifting their head onto the “ramp” formed by your thigh.  Wrap their head and grip your opposite wrist (now freed from controlling the arm/sleeve).  Now transition back to be parallel with your partner.  Move inferiorly, trying to slide such that your arm stays wrapped tight to their neck and your trapezius tight to the opposite side.  Your head should slide next to their chest, so that you can hear their heart beat.

Near straight arm bar

From the paper cutter choke, if blocked, rotate your distal leg so that your toes point to their head and your opposite hip.  Shift your weight unto your blocked choking hand on their chest or onto their far arm.  Slide the leg nearest their head around their head until perpendicular but across their head.  Now sit back as the knee nearest their legs rotates to the ceiling, squeeze your knees together.  Grab this knee with your free hand to increase arm bar pressure.

Kimura

If you obtain north-south and you decide or if their arm does not “pop out”, you can instead pick-up the kimura.  Use the overhook to pivot your opponent on to their side, using your legs to push.  Slide the overhook arm underneath their forearm and grab your opposite wrist which in turn grabs their wrist.  Tuck your leg to their face and your opposite knee to their back, foot on the floor.  Lift their hand free from their body, use the push-pull of the figure four to rotate their shoulder posteriorly.

Deep kimura/biceps slicer

You get a kimura set-up but your opponent stays flat on their back.  Release their wrist and shoot the hand gripping the wrist, like a hook, so that forearm is trapped proximal to your elbow, posteriorly.  Your other forearm is in their cubital fossa, the palm of this hand on your distal biceps.  Imagine a really loose rear naked choke of their elbow joint.  Your free hand and forearm should be on the mat, their hand near their hip.  Move out next to your opponent on this side.  Keep your chest on your hands, walk your feet toward their feet as you lift your trapped forearm.

Grab first for advantage, grab best for victory

Megaton feels that 80% of your grappling will either be passing or attacking from guard so it is important to train from there.  We used various training scenarios to warm-up.  All these are trained at 50%, there is no winning at warm-up:

• Passing the guard versus partner trying to prevent passing, no submissions or sweep, e.g. the bottom player is ahead,
• Staying in the guard versus partner trying to sweep or reversal, no submissions, e.g. player inside the guard is ahead.

Upa technique: Even as basic a technique as the upa can still have details that make it more efficient and technical.  When you upa, grab their sleeve distal to the shoulder on the side you plan to turn toward and pull them to you, making everything more cylindrical.  Drop your elbow on top of their thigh (the same one you are trapping with your foot).  Use both feet to bridge straight, trying to put your opponent on their head, before trying to turn over.
Shark cross collar choke: Open the lapel with your ipsilateral hand to insert your contralateral hand, palm up as deep behind the neck as you can.  Twist your shoulders, chest perpendicular to the opposite collar and position your hand like a shark going in for a bit, that is, so that the fingers will not collide with the kimono lapel.  Square up.  Your choke should be tight even before starting to try to submit them.
Z-guard tripod pass: The Z-guard is basically the half-guard with the superior knee inside and diagonal across the thorax.  Underhook the top leg and grab the pant leg on the bottom just proximal to your partner’s knee.  With the other hand grab the same side lapel.  Tripod up and slide the trapped knee through, then use it to clear their bottom leg, take the side mount.
Z-guard shrimp out pass: If you are unable to secure their collar, grab their ipsilateral sleeve, transition to this hip, shrimp your butt away from your opponent, using your bottom shin to pry your leg out.  If they try to get up pull them flat with the sleeve control or with both sleeve and pant leg.
Cross collar and arm choke: From guard (or half-guard) obtain cross collar control,  reach across and pull their arm across forming a choke with their arm and your forearm.  Shift in the direction of their crossed arm to avoid getting drilled by their elbow, place pressure with your chest on their arm as you pull them in with the cross collar control.
Hooks-in elevator sweep variation: Obtain ipsilateral collar and sleeve control, transition onto the same gluteal as you have sleeve control.  Elevate the hook on the collar control slide to sweep them to the sleeve control side
Hooks-in to X-guard sweep: Grab both collars and lift onto your hooks, pivot to one side placing your head on one shin and under hooking this leg.  The leg that was ipsilateral stays hooked behind their knee while your opposite foot pushes the medial thigh away from you.  Transition to kneeling and to your feet, pull/step backward to pull them to that mat, reversing position.
Hooks-in to reverse arm bar:  You do the above and your opponent posts both hands to the mat.  Under hook one arm, rolling your forearm over their arm just proximal to the elbow, grip your hands together.  Simultaneously, bring your hook out on this side and place in their hip, rotate the knee to their ribs.  Apply the reverse arm bar.
Toreador hooks-in guard pass:  Your opponent has you in hooks-in guard, grab their pant legs distally thumbs toward you.  Staple their feet to the mat, stand and pass to one side, try to find their heart beat and drive your weight into them to pass.
Tilt hooks-in guard pass:  Your opponent has you in hooks-in guard, underhook his leg and grab the distal pant leg, with your other hand grab their kimono in the back.  Post the leg on the same side as your under hooking arm.  Pull, tilting your opponent right to the mat.
Knee tap takedown:  From standing, grab the ipsilateral collar, pull them so that they step with their opposite foot, then drive laterally over this leg, tapping their knee on the way for the takedown.
Reversing reverse side control: Your opponent has obtained reverse side control, the arm nearest your head reaches across your body and is near your hip.  Grab this sleeve with the hand nearest your opponent.  Post up and roll away from your opponent, pulling them over you and somersaulting onto their back.
50-50 guard ankle locks

• Straight ankle lock:  Wrap their ankle, wrist in their Achilles tendon, roll away from them, sliding your outside foot underneath and through their legs, posting the top of your foot on their far hip,  straighten your back to finish.
• Inside figure four: Bump their knee to expose the ankle and foot, reach across your body to grab their toes, pinky finger to pinky toe.  Slide your near hand underneath distal ankle and grab the figure 4.  Attempt to put your opponent’s toe in their rectum, they should submit prior to this occurring.
• Reverse straight ankle lock:  Again expose their ankle and foot, place your near wrist on their Achilles tendon, use your other hand to pull your hand toward your face for the ankle submission.  This is not a heel hook but a straight ankle lock.

My title comes from an observation today.  I believe that grips are critical for securing advantage and victory.  Megaton pointed out that sometimes your opponent gets a grip and you cannot free yourself.  In these cases, obtain your own grip to shut down their game.  Similar to Tony Blauer’s “Closest Weapon, Closest Target” this is “Nearest G, Nearest Grip”.  Then capitalize on this change in the control dynamic.

Maximus Sweep Series

I had the pleasure of rolling with Max Burt of Muncie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tonight.  He swept me with his sweep series, so of course I had to ask how he did it:

• Lat load sweep: Obtain cross arm control and pull across your body, reach your ipsilateral arm to grip their far lat just inferior to their axilla, or if you can lapel wrapping it inferior to the axilla.  Free your opposite arm and post the elbow on the floor, keep your torso tight to their arm so they cannot retreat and escape the sweep.  The foot on the ipsilateral side as your lat control arm, goes to the floor, blocking their leg.  Use this post and your elbow to lift, using the lat control to pull them forward and then sweep them over the shoulder of their crossed arm.
• Extension sweep:  If they block the sweep above, by posting up with their leg, undertook the arm opposite, pulling it straight and extending past your head,  now kick with your posted leg, using the thigh against their flank to sweep them laterally over the side with the extended arm.
• Take the back fake:  If they’ve shut down both the above sweeps, work toward the back (cross arm side), your trail leg foot hooks their far thigh at the knee.  Kick your free leg across their back, perpendicular to their body, this should make them roll and if not, take the back.

Max also showed me a sweep from 50/50 guard, grab the lapel on the grape vined side with your opposite hand, obtain ipsilateral sleeve control with your other hand. Pull your opponent toward you as you shift your legs to the outside, rolling your inside knee to the floor, but preventing your opponent from going belly down.  Free their leg and move it to the opposite hip, now hip switch out and take the back.

Megaton Seminar: You don't have to be smart

Megaton had a light warm-up to start his seminar, nothing like the grueling hour we used to endure back in the old days.  We did jumping jacks, push-ups, and sit-ups.  We then did break fall practice, slapping the mat from the supine position, sitting, squatting, and standing.  We then did forward rolls, note that you roll over your lead leg, place the palm of the opposite hand on the floor, and then roll over the back of your other hand, forearm, arm, and shoulder.  We finished with backward rolls.  Whether you have a strong judo arsenal in your combat sports arsenal or not, a clear understanding of break falls and rolls is critical for your development.

Throws

• Seonagi: Your opponent has a single same side lapel grip.  Reach superiorly to their grip, and secure the ipsilateral lapel.  Pull medially across your body to make your opponent step laterally, as they do meet them by turning into them. Simultaneously place your cubital fossa into their axilla, fist up palm toward in-line with their shoulder, your feet squaring with them and pointed in the same direction.  Bend forward to lift and throw them.  
• Osoto gari: Control one arm at the elbow with the other at the lapel, lift their arm and fit tightly but stepping laterally with enough room to clear your hip.  You should close with half your chest in contact with half theirs, pushing them backward at a 45° angle, anchoring them to this leg.  Reap with a bent leg, by acting like a "dippy bird", chest coming down as leg comes up.
• Hopping variation of osoto gari: If the leg you wish to reap is positioned posteriorly, reach your leg reap leg forward, hooking your heel behind their knee.  Now hop forward as this leg pulls toward you, your will reap them as your body moves forward and the leg pulls posteriorly.
• Twist sweep: With lapel and opposite elbow control, close with your opponent, lateral chest to lateral chest on the elbow control side.  As you do push their elbow backward as you pull their lapel, your objective is to twist them.  This twist should provoke them to step on the lapel control side.  Block their step with the dorsal surface of your foot.  The twist and sweep all occur simultaneously, you are not kicking their leg, they are kicking your foot because they are provoked to step.

Suicide chokes

• Cross collar and triceps control:  From a neutral kneeling postion, obtain cross collar control and pull forward, looping your arm over their head with the lapel across their neck.  Now dive your head underneath them on the side you are gripping, attempt to get your head to the opposite side as you turn over.  Cup their triceps on the side opposite your lapel grip.  If they roll to escape simply follow them by rolling with them, when you reach a prone position, hip switch to obtain a perpendicular position to your opponent, release the triceps, put your palm on the floor and slide your hand away from you, increasing the wedge height behind their head.  Start with a loose grip on the kimono lapel, too tight and you will run out of room putting undue pressure on your wrist.  Also when you hip switch, move away a little to tighten the choke.
• Suicide mata leao: From the same neutral kneeling position, your pull forward with the cross collar grip, but they post their hand on this side on the mat.  Continue to loop their head, but this time underhook their posted arm and place the hand on the back of their skull.  Dive your head lateral to their posted arm to cinch the choke.

4-Points reversals

You are in the four points position, with our opponent hugging your from the top, parallel with you.

• Hip out:  Grip their opposite pant leg at the knee, step out the leg on this side laterally.  Throw your free elbow up and back, simultaneously drive your head laterally and up, sliding along your opponent's body.  As soon as you are clear, turn the corner to obtain rear hip control.
• Roll to arm lock: Grip their opposite sleeve, to block their post.  On the side opposite their controlled sleeve, step your leg out laterally to facilitate a barrel roll in the direction they cannot post.  Once they are on their back, wrap your free arm around the limb you have a grip on, proximal to their elbow, securing the figure-4 and locking the elbow.
• Pulling guard:  Step the leg up on the outside of your opponent's body, simultaneously popping your head out on the opposite side, sit back, pulling them to the guard.

Wrapping Up

Brabo choke from guard: From the closed guard, free the kimono and feed it over their back to the opposite side, cross grip the distal piece of the passed kimono, and bring your forearm close to your opponent's body.  Now pull your opponent's arm (the one ipsilateral to the manipulated kimono) across your body.  Re-guard into a high closed guard, keeping their dragged arm's elbow against your torso, to tighten the choke.

Transition to arm bar:  If your opponent ducks under the passed kimono to avoid the choke, use the kimono to wrap their arm, then pull their arm across your body.  Drop your forearm across theirs to keep the wrapped arm trapped.  Now use your free hand to reach across to grab the shoulder fold of their kimono to spin to the arm bar.

Spider guard to X-guard sweep

From the spider guard, switch to a De La Riva hook, cup the ankle on this side, use your other leg to push their rear leg back.  Undo the De La Riva hook and set-up the X-guard, by bring this foot into their far hip, with your knee now behind their cupped leg.  Your other foot now goes behind their far knee.  Pass the arm sleeve of their rear leg to the hand that was cupping their heel, making an overhook of their leg.  Extend your legs as your tilt them laterally over their trapped arm.  Come to the knee on stomach position.

Berimbolo

From seated De La Riva, cup their ankle on the hook side, and obtain the cross collar grip with your other hand.  Extend your legs and push laterally to have them fall to their posterior.  Now perform a straight roll, perpendicular to their hooked leg.  As you end up on your back, you should still be hooking the leg, your opposite leg is across their body at the hips, switch your ankle grip to their opposite ankle.  Now roll them by pulling with your leg hook and guiding their ankle.  You should end up behind them but will need to pull them/climb to get their back.  If not you can simply sprawl on their legs and pass.  If that was clear as mud, this may help:

Leg Drag Pass

From a open guard position, grip one pant leg with both hands, pressure in and then retract simultaneously pulling their leg across your body.  You want to get the posterior side of their thighs against your legs.  Keep the grip ipsilateral to their leg and move your opposite hand to grip their same side collar (your arms will cross).  Now pull yourself forward placing your head on the same side your hand is, creating an intense pressure from the tripod position

Lasso Guard

The lasso guard is set-up like a spider guard, but you control one sleeve and have their arm wrapping your shin.

• Lasso guard to oma plata:  If you chose to dive or if your opponent attempts to pass your leg, spin underneath, clear their leg and obtain the oma plata.
• Lasso guard to sweep: Rather than going all the way to the oma plata, keep your shin against their cubital fossa.  Either push on your ankle with your free foot or triangle your leg to sweep your opponent by their arm.

Tiago Alves Seminar: They can beat you. They can cut you. They can hurt you. They can never take your knowledge.

Today I went to a seminar by Tiago Alves hosted by Max Burt of Muncie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  We started with a timed jog around the abundant mat space of the gym.  Then we did mat lengths of:

• Shrimping: Use your foot and the ipsilateral shoulder to elevate the ipsilateral hip, moving it laterally and superiorly, nearly turning over.  Use the walk between the hips and the foot/shoulder to move down the mat by alternating sides.
• Forward Shrimping: Using only one foot and the ipsilateral shoulder, lift the hip on this side and move it toward the foot by bending your knee and activating the leg muscles.  Move down the floor by switching sides, again walking by using foot/shoulder and the hip.
• Shoulder Roll:  Sitting on the mat with your legs extended in front of you, roll to your shoulder by tucking your hand underneath the space between the floor and your legs made by bending your knee.  Roll shoulder to shoulder, not over your back, your feet can touch the mat if you're flexible enough.  Position yourself at a 45° degree angle to the wall so that you can roll one way then pivot 90° to roll the other.  In this fashion you can work your way down the mat.

Next we moved to partner drilling from the four points position.  The hips and upper thighs are the contact and control surfaces for you as the top player.  When the bottom partner moves you can either switch hips or you can walk.  The entire time work on dropping the hips while you move, not raising them (which at first glance seems to be needed to move), simultaneously keep the legs wide.  There is no need to "run" around your partner, simply alter the direction but not the magnitude of your pressure.  We  drilled 60 second intervals where the four points partner moves but does not try to escape while the top partner cannot grab, isolating hip and leg movement.  Then we added grips and drilled it again.  Next we covered the cases where the four points partner attempts to pull guard or to roll:

• Pulling guard: As the top player, you feel their body shift, keep your legs wide and drop your hips into your partner.  It is possible to move laterally to clear the legs, but you can end up sprawled on your partner's legs if necessary.
• Rolling: If the bottom player tries to roll, make sure that one of your hips is placed on their sacrum and use the ipsilateral arm to hook your elbow anteriorly to their hip.  Then turn this corner, allowing the bottom player to land supine, while the top player secures side mount.

We drilled this in 30 second sets either "slow" or "fast".

After getting the movement of the four points position we moved onto technique for offense from the top:

• Defend the roll, one hand lapel choke from the back: From the four points position, you as the top player secures your partner's contralateral lapel while placing your palm on the proximal part of your partner's near triceps (don't grab).  The bottom partner wraps the arm gripping their lapel and attempts to roll laterally.  Move with the roll, sprawling on your partners legs, then clearing them by moving further in the same direction. Your knee should end up in their popliteal fossa.  Use the free hand to grab the contralateral collar, across your opponent's anterior neck.  Move the contralateral knee (the one on the "rolled" side) superiorly up near your opponents shoulder, placing it on the mat.    Now roll to the mat on this side, pulling with the hand across their neck.  You will end up on your back, re-grab their forearm with your "trapped" arm, use the leg ipsilateral to your choking hand to overhook their shoulder and proximal arm to finish the choke.
• Defend the roll, 180° roll to the one hand lapel choke from the back: From the four points, in the top position you again have secured the contralateral lapel and your partner on the bottom again attempts to roll.  However they feel your weight shift and recover, this recovery should relatively open the neck.  Secure a cross lapel grip with your free hand, anterior to their neck.  Release the original grip you hand and clasp their forearm on this side.  Now roll sideways, placing your shoulder over their posterior neck and pull them with you, somersaulting them .  You pull with the arm controlled side to allow their ipsilateral hip to cover your ankle, while your other leg overbooks the shoulder and proximal arm.  Use this to finish your choke.

Then from the bottom of the four points position we built and chained the following together:

• Sit reversal:  From the four points position you circle towards your partner as if to grab their far leg.  Simultaneously kick the leg adjacent to them ceiling ward (you may have to kick more than once).  The kick rotates and moves your body so that the top players ends up sliding from your hip to the middle of your torso.  Remain propped on the elbow furthest from your partner and sit your far knee and shin next to your partner, the other extends across the mat.  Using a rear elbow motion to to pull them laterally over your proximal legs and hips.
• Taking the back:  If your partner defends your reversal by stopping their momentum with their lapel gripping hand by switching it to the mat. Simply use your top leg to overhook their near calf,  remain propped on your elbow and pull your other arm tight to your body in the space between you and your partner. Grab their far hip at the belt line
• Reversal from the whizzer: Your opponent whizzers the arm your freed and placed across your opponent's belt line.  Take your far leg and place the proximal part of the foot, into their popliteal fossa.  Now roll laterally and extend your hook reversing them to their back.  Now if they turn over to four points you can start from the beginning.

After the work from the four points we turned to the guard

• Pump handle single leg with pass to kimura:  Your partner is posted with one knee up, you have control of both sleeves with your foot in the the hip opposite from the one posted up.  Your free leg acts as pendulum to get you sitting up and moving your base laterally in the direction of and around the posted leg.  Now feed the arm from the unposted side under the posted leg and grab the sleeve with the contralateral arm.  Remove the foot from their hip and hook their leg.  Now put your head just medial to their shoulder and sit up,  you can cup their posterior knee with your free hand, in order to do a single to double leg from the ground.  Now pin their bottom leg with the hand holding the passed arm.  Start circling toward their open side, following the "pump handle" arm to its origin.  Their free leg can stay betwixt your legs until it gets to be hip height.  Now slide over it, placing your inferior knee to their hip.  Now transition further, circling their head.  Use your free hand to undertook their arm posteriorly, release your sleeve control hand to secure kimura.
• Koala guard to 50-50 60-40 guard:  You have the same set-up as above but after you have secured the grip on the passed arm, your partner stands.  Use your free hand to grab the skirt near the butt. Put the foot posterior to them at the anterior side of their hip.  Use this foot and the skirt grip to rotate your head to be lateral to their far leg.  Pike up and secure a triangle over this leg and the arm, with medial leg (the one placed in their hip) passing anteriorly to their arm and this foot extended laterally from their body and posteriorly to your other leg (i.e. medial leg forms two parts of the triangle).  Sweep them backward by flexing your leg and extending your hips.  You are now in 50-50 guard but in reality its more like 60-40 since you have them more controlled than they do you.
• 50-50 guard pass to ezekiel choke and arm bar: From the 50-50 guard lay supine, clear their triangled leg by passing the hand lateral to them posterior to their heel, cupping it and moving it laterally.  Place the lateral leg knee in their popliteal fossa and then bring your other (medial leg) shin behind their thigh by pulling your knee to your chest.  Now clear their leg in the opposite direction as you come to your knees, pushing them onto their side facing away from you.  Bring your inferior arm medial to their upper arm and to their contralateral neck, place the shin of your inferior leg into their back.  Ezekiel choke by using this hand to grab the sleeve of your opposite arm.  If they have strong neck, keep your inferior arm wrapping their neck and use the other hand to scoop up their arm nearest the mat.  Move your superior leg over their head and sit for back for arm bar.
• Koala guard to taking the back:  Should they free their gripped sleeve while going for your 50-50 set-up, simply place both of your shins into their popliteal fossa, pull on the skirt to gain access more gi and belt.  Now make them squat as your kick both shins forward to obtain rear mount.  Seat belt grip to control while getting hooks.  Tiago grabs his fingers and places his seatbelt higher and nearer the neck than I am do, so I will try this as well.

Front Row: Your humble blogger, Tiago Alves, and newly promoted faixa preta Max Burt

Back'n Wrap

I was playing with wrapping the kimono around my opponent's arm the other day and two possibilities appeared.  Now they need some refinement but here's what I've got for now:

• From the guard, after wrapping the arm and attempting to pull it across for the armbar your opponent resists by pulling their arm back toward their body.  Adjust your wrap to further encircle the arm, then assist their motion and push their arm to the body, then set-up the triangle over the manipulated arm and switch to the opposite triangle.
• Again from the guard, wrap their arm, and pull for the cross arm lock.  If they defend, pass the gripped part of their kimono to your other hand, which has either gone behind their head or (if you have excessively long arms like me) their back via their opposite axilla.  Now post with your free hand and look for rear mount as you rotate them by pulling on their kimono.  If you have passed the kimono to the arm encircling your head you can choke them with their kimono by sliding your newly freed hand down your forearm on the side most proximal to your opponent.

The Shower Technique: Biomechanical Concepts of Protection Against the Guard

Introduction

Today I went to a seminar by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu faixa preta (black belt) Octavio Couto focusing primarily on the biomechanics of defending protecting yourself inside the guard.

Palm-Up Concept

The core biomechnical concept was using the forearms in the palm-up rather than the palm-down position, to allow more activation of the back, e.g. the position you are in when doing pull-ups, deadlifts, or lifting a box.  The angle of flexion of the elbow should be approximately 90°, increased flexion (more acute angle) will collapse, increased extension (more obtuse angle) exposes you to submission (see below).  This is a stronger biomechanical framework than palm down, i.e. "grabbing the pajamas" (kimono), which makes it a structure for obtaining posture, negating offense, and creating space.  That does not excluding grabbing the kimono, i.e. pronating the hand once more, once you have optimized your posture or position, but the supinated position allows you to apply greater strength with less effort.  In general, avoid grabbing/pronating unless your grip is below the belt.  The palm-up concept can have the arms in any position, i.e. they can be parallel, triangular, square, or opposite.  A similar concept is used in Filipino martial arts in knife and stick passing drills.

Horizontal Visual Plane Concept

The secondary biomechanic was head position's influence on posture, by keeping the eyes on a horizontal plane while still being aware of your opponent, you establish a straight spine.  A straight spine has been demonstrated to be stronger, it's the position we (should) use to do any Olympic lift.

Drills

1. "Obtaining closed guard versus the palm-up biomechanic": Allow your partner to obtain grips in the open guard, using the above two concepts keep them from obtaining closed guard.
2. "Protecting from guard attack using the the palm-up biomechanic": In this drill your opponent has you in the closed guard and attempts to attack, e.g. arm bar, choke, sweep.  Use hip movement and the above biomechanics to shut down your opponent's offense and enlarge the space they have already created when attempting offense.
3. Combine #1 and #2 above

Straight Arm Bait, Palm Up Defense

Once you have obtained an erect posture, inside their closed guard, supinate and grab the gi collar at the level of the shoulders.  Lock the arm, this allows you to not only hold your partner to the mat efficiently but also baits the arm bar.  The other arm is kept back, shielding that side, palm towards you, elbow on their leg  If they open their guard, immediately release and supinate the hand, returning to the protective palm-up position  If they attempt to triangle, use the shield arm to guide their leg over your head, and presenting the pass.

While Octavio taught a guard pass to the white, yellow, and blue belts, we worked on this.  After having us train this he had the black belts teach small groups of students while he observed and provided feedback.  I've never had to teach at seminar before, but it was an effective way of learning.

Palm-Up Guard Pass

From the hooks inside guard with your partner set-up to sweep, take one hand and grip the opposite pant leg, palm toward you, elbow parallel to slightly away from you.  Your other arm is in the opposite direction, in the palm-up position.  Now follow the elbow pointing away from you to essentially walk around their hook.  Keep a low base, place the knee nearest the direction of the pass proximal to their body near the heel of their foot.

Conclusion

The palm-up position allowed Buchecha to take Rodolfo's back in with 2013 World Championships (see about 5 minutes in):

Octavio points out that Brazilian jiu-jitsu is about technique, strategy, and efficiency.  One cannot explode for 10 minutes straight, no caliber of athlete can.  However, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is also about taking risk, as demonstrated by Buchecha when despite being ahead on points risked being swept to take the back.  We can simply roll staying within our safety zone, but we cannot improve without taking risk.

As for the Shower Technique, the continual movement of your hands in the palm-up position, looks like someone lathering themselves up for a shower.

Open mouth, insert foot

I seek simple solutions.  The more complicated we make processes the more they tend to develop errors and essentially not work.  This aspiration to simplicity typically makes me favor high percentage technique, I like attacking and defending in ways that work most of the time, no matter who I'm working with or how fatigued I am.  It has to work despite me, not because of me.  This makes me disregard or shelve technique that for me, nobody would ever let me set-up as the easiest and simplest ways of avoiding, in my mind, exist.  It makes my approach, my game, old school basic.  The only way I'm making a highlight real is if they catch me, people have seen my arsenal ad nauseum.  But it works, its teachable to anybody, and it reduces the chances of self inflicted injury, all of which I think are positives.  However, life is about challenging perspective, if you're not asking questions about why you might be wrong, you're assuming you're right, and there is a famous saying about assumptions and rear ends.

So today the class was taught oma plata off the defense of the cross body straight arm bar.  From your guard you attack with the straight arm bar, if they defend you can use the arm closest to their legs to pass their arm bent and inferiorly to set-up the oma plata.  Makes sense, high yield, and a valuable addition to any guard player's game.

The next technique was taking the back from the oma plata.  Here, in order to defend the oma plata your partner straightens their arm, bring it straight across your pelvis.  Most likely you've lost the position and they are going to limp arm out of the position.  If your lucky you can do the mao de vaca (cow hoof submission) or even an arm bar.   Instead, we gripped their far lapel with our near hand pulling it into their axilla.  Now you tilt their far side toward you and as you do swing your near leg over their head and back while bringing your near foot in as a hook, in other words taking the back.

I admit I shelved this technique almost immediately as being low percentage, with my luck they would be out of the poor position before I could even find their lapel.  Then after class, lo and behold I was rolling, had set-up an oma plata when my partner's arm plopped, magically, suddenly, across my pelvis.  Without skipping much of a beat I grabbed his far lapel, rolled him over and took his back.

Any technique, when it works, is a 100%, even if the sample size is only one.  A low percentage technique is only that because the situation where it works all the time is rare, not because the maneuver is intrinsically "bad".  A high percentage technique applied at the wrong time never works, it is still not relegated to the realm of "bad" technique.  If our goal is to elevate our skill, to craft the best game for us, the techniques whether high or low yield, must be arrayed in our arsenal to be used when the situation, the time, and the opponent is optimal for the application not by preconceived notions of what will and will not work.  Perhaps I, in my experienced wisdom, I should not be so quick to judge.